What are you talking about? A 5770 has 1gb of vram....and my point was that and older 800SP card is not enough for this game. The GPU just doesn't have enough raw power so it's not really a vram issue in your case.

If it hasn't got enough raw power can you explain why I can run it at 35 FPS at even max settings, but not for more than a minute? It is VRAM, as I have said, I am maxing out all the time. I can't even run the game at low settings for more than a few minutes, but every other game on the market right now I can run on medium/high/max settings at 1920x1080 with no AA. Again, only explanation is bad VRAM management or a hardware problem (which I assume if it was, I would be having similar problems w/ other games, aswell).

Edit: Reading your comment again, I meant 1 GB, it read 1300 Mb VRAM but I forgot to compensate for the inaccuracy.Edited by Xerifilm - 1/11/12 at 3:19pm

Well that's funny because I run everything on ultra except textures and shadows on high with FXAA and HBAO at 1080p and get around 45-50 fps average...I have the same amount of vram as you.

Seriously, you think your GPU would do any better with 2 or even 3gb ram? It won't....a 5770 just doesn't have enough power, it's basically a 4890. VRAM is not the limiting factor on a 5770 in BF3....not even really on a 5870.

I really don't know about a memory leak. but my GTX 280s cant even run the game on ultra... and i'm confused on that because i thought they were the same as a GTX 570 without DX11. But i have noticed quite a bit of VRAM it uses.

My two 570s are in their boxes right now because I am going to get a single 7970 once they get more in stock. I built this computer strictly for BF3 + future games so I willingly shelled out $700 to build this in hopes of maxing out EVERY graphical setting with 60+fps. I wish I'd done more research because I have to turn MSAA down to 2x to get it playable because there's too much stuttering at 4xMSAA, especially in the new Karkand maps with many buildings and textures to process. Even at 2x, there would be a little stutter, but not enough to get rid of them because two 570s offer a lot of GPU power, until the 7970 came out. A member here recorded VRAM usage up to 1.8-1.9GB of VRAM in his 7970 on the new Karkand maps. The only other option I had before were CFX 2GB 6950/6970 or a 3GB 580, but I didn't want to get those since I heard the 7000s are around the corner and now it is.

There aren't many, many reviews out for it yet for MP 64-player BF3 benches, but I've done some forum searching and many people are happy with their 7970s. Sure, I won't be sitting at an average of 80fps, but at least I can max out all settings for $550 vs $700 and I won't get stuttering (I hope) with 4xMSAA. Looking at people's reviews and experience, looks like the 7970 can run 1080p all ultra, 4xMSAA at a good 60-70fps with lows of upper 40s but no recorded stuttering like my 570s. Can always throw in another 7970 when it drops to something like $499 + MIR or something.